Utah Republicans fell in love with one congressional candidate and waged a nasty battle over another one at the GOP state convention Saturday.

“Jim Matheson should be pretty scared right now. We're going to send him home. It's time.”

Mia Love

Swallow said he would lead the fight for public lands in Utah, to curb illegal immigration and to defeat Obamacare. "I have learned how to fight in the courtroom, in the Legislature and in the attorney general's office," Swallow told delegates.

Reyes said he, too, would fight for Utah on those same issues. He said he would return the attorney general's office to a law office "of and for the people" that is not unduly influenced by lobbyists or a political agenda.

The winner of the June primary faces Democratic Weber County Attorney Dee Smith in November.

In the 1st Congressional District, Rob Bishop easily won the Republican nomination over two challengers. Ditto for Rep. Jason Chaffetz in the 3rd District.

In the Democrats only primary for a statewide race, Donna McAleer and Ryan Combe will face off in June for the 1st Congressional District nomination.

"I'm disappointed at having a primary, I'm not going to deny that. Primaries consume a lot of financial and human resources," said McAleer, a West Point graduate who has worked as a corporate vice president, run a nonprofit organization.

Combe, director of marketing for Weber State University, attributed the final outcome to "people voting their hearts."

Salt Lake City Council Chairman Soren Simon won the Democratic nomination for the 3rd Congressional District.

Former GOP state lawmaker John Dougall, backed by Senate President Michael Waddoups and House Speaker Becky Lockhart, forced a primary election with incumbent state auditor Auston Johnson.

Democrats nominated Chris Stout for state treasurer and Mark Sage for state auditor.

Popular Comments

I haven't sat down and made up my mind on Mia Love vs. Jim Matheson, but I
am glad that the delegates rejected Carl Wimmer quickly and decisively. It just
goes to show how the larger turnouts at the caucus meetings this year moderated
the
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11:39 a.m. April 22, 2012

Top comment

RockOn

Spanish Fork, UT

What a bone-headed remark by Attorney General Shurtleff... to call Mia Love a
"novelty" is outrageous unless you're prepared to tell us what is
novel about her. Is having African ancestry novel? Or is being a woman novel? Or
a combo or
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2:45 p.m. April 22, 2012

Top comment

Cats

Somewhere in Time, UT

I think Mia has a great chance to beat Matheson. It's going to be a great
year for Republicans in Utah from Romney and on down the ticket.

Lisa Riley Roche covers politics for the Deseret News/KSL news division, producing content for the newspaper, the TV and radio stations, and both deseretnews.com and ksl.com. She has been a reporter for more than 25 years, more ..

Dennis Romboy is a reporter for Deseret News where for the past 20 years he has covered a variety of beats including state and local government, human services and the 2002 Olympics. He spent six years as a special more ..